Gottlieb

Joker Poker

Pinside Rating

This game received 99 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.768 _/10

7.768

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #131 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 7.932

Artwork: 7.704

Sounds/Music: 4.353

Other Aspects: 8.053

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 3 of us have rated this game.

7.579

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Found 49 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 49 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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7.537/10

7 years ago

RC

Robhorror

Pinside member

Québec, QC

8y 50,650 3 15 53

Very fun and addictive, the best gottlieg, the best EM style game, the chime sound with digital display is a real + for me.

Robhorror edited previous rating on October 12, 2020.
Robhorror has owned this game in the past.

9.027/10

7 years ago

MEH

ThePinballCo-op

The Pinball Co-op

9y 117K 1,760 40 1

I love this game. Great ruleset, great layout, great shots. Of 15-or-so machines, this is one that I keep trying to play over and over.

7.480/10

7 years ago

LSK

Insane

Pinside+ Frequent

Baroda, MI

10y 80,800 1,967 6 9

I think this is a fun "Drop Target" game. Has a nice theme, with a great backglass. If you like this era SS, you might really like this one. Has a decently open PF. Isn't filled with a ton of stuff. Just a good solid game.

Insane currently owns this game.

9.308/10

8 years ago

RM

rolf_martin_062

Inactive member

Aarau

10y 59,550 4,150 14 8

By far - Joker Poker is the best Gtb-Sys-1 pin. It plays like EM's (I like) - keeps-up with counting, Bonus Multiplyer is great. I like the Em-chime-box in it. The other Gtb-Sys-1 are nice / good, Joker Poker is excellent.

rolf_martin_062 currently owns this game.

8.338/10

8 years ago

GPS

onetaste

Pinside member

Adelaide Hills

10y 63,650 142 23 114

Awesome game, one of the best solid states of all time.

onetaste has this game on the wishlist.

8.423/10

9 years ago

MPT

plowpusher

Pinside member

Yutan, NE

13y 134K 1,560 21 58

Another masterpiece by Gottlieb this one has it all

plowpusher currently owns this game.

8.139/10

9 years ago

YOS

Yoski

Pinside member

Sebring, FL

9y 88,150 456 17 133

My favorite drop target pinball. JP takes advanced skills on the flippers and at aiming to be successful when compared with most other machines. It will punish you for every mistake you make. Still it keeps me coming back again and again. Uniquely addictive.
The art work is absolutely awesome, busty women and cards, what's not to like? JP has some of the nicest visual appearance without making it difficult to follow the ball on the PF.
Game flow is nice as long as you are good at aiming. The Sound, ding-ding-ding.... certainly nothing special.
Cons: upper flipper is a bit awkward. Sides drain easily. If you're not into drop targets look elsewhere.
Bottom line: I played about every major drop target Pinball and JP is my favorite.

Yoski edited previous rating on June 19, 2016.
Yoski currently owns this game.

7.143/10

9 years ago

BOB

bobbyt

Inactive member

Southampton, PA

11y 44,150 676 7

this is a fun game that I played as a kid, nice flow and long ball times

7.160/10

9 years ago

RHO

spiroagnew

Inactive member

11y 121K 982 161

Who says Gottlieb didn't make any good games after they switched to solid state technology? Joker Poker stands the test of time, and remains one of the best, if not THE best, card themed game ever made, and certainly the best Gottlieb of the post-wedgehead era. Multi-player play can be quite a ball. The unique "five-ball" aspect of the game as it relates to bonus, at a time when games were moving to three-ball, adds a bit of deepness to an otherwise straightforward game. King drops on the right hand side are tricky, and you have to rely on a little luck from the slings to get them all dropped. Gordon Morison art has that wedgehead 60s vibe going for it...lots of colour, sexy girls, and hypnotic patterns. Great addition of the extra flipper, replacing one of the pops, compounds strategy when trying to complete the ace/joker bank. Great System 1 game that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser in any collection.

6.826/10

9 years ago

WRS

goodfellow

Inactive member

Lake City, FL

11y 11,500 3 1 9

Vintage sounds of bells and more bells. I love it! Puts me in the mood for playing. Lots of replay value

8.930/10

9 years ago

???

Rockyfrank

Pinside member

Downingtown, PA

9y 17,750 9 8

The one game that can be easy to beat yet at the same time very frustrating. Very challenging. Getting all the drop targets. A top 5 game for me.

9.590/10

10 years ago

JRD

Jimmyd044

Pinside+ Frequent

Allentown, PA

13y 73,050 1,201 3 16

Let me say this first. This is a pin from my childhood. I'm not basing this review on nostalgia. I already had a few late 70's SS games in my collection and sold after a few months. IMO this is the best looking pin out there. Simple classic artwork. Not overdone.
Just a classy looking machine. The rules are great. It's just one of those games that keeps you coming back for more.

7.155/10

10 years ago

ROB

RobKnapp

Pinside member

Colorado Springs, CO

13y 110K 3,116 13 183

Drop targets is the name of the game fun

6.883/10

10 years ago

ALR

canea

Pinside member

11y 94,150 1,905 22

Joker Poker is a fun, simple drop target game that can also kick your a$$ more times than not. There are three sets of drop targets to shoot for (10, Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces), and each ball requires a different set to be knocked down to get the all-important 5x bonus multiplier. Though there are a few other nuances that's pretty much the entire game. It's addictive in that one-more-time way, particularly if your last game served you some tough drains.

Sounds are the classic chime box and work very well with the game for that nostalgic ambiance.

The real standout aspect of Joker Poker is the backglass, which features three busty jester women riding a spacey vortex of playing cards. Does it have anything to do with the rest of the art package? No, not really, but who cares!

9.014/10

11 years ago

DMG

dgpinball

Pinside member

Abbotsford, BC

12y 88,900 1,661 147 73

One of the truly great playing early solid state games made by any company, hard to find a more enjoyable machine to play in a group!! Unique bonus system makes for huge comebacks and crushing defeats, this is simply an awesome player.

dgpinball currently owns this game.

9.333/10

11 years ago

ANB

Jokercyclone

Inactive member

11y 43,550 640 33 12

This is a great game that stands the test of time in a collection. Joker Poker is a classic that plays so well and is great set up on five balls. Gordon Morrison art work is awesome and a lot of fun to play.

Jokercyclone currently owns this game.

9.205/10

11 years ago

ZUL

Caucasian2Step

Evil McBooty

12y 163K 1,456 51 1032

Joker Poker is a great 70's Gottleib pinball design that shows that even new technology is there to help a great PF layout. 15 drop trgets help out the cause. Simple, yes. Easy... not by a long shot.

The Pros: The shots are well varied and the A-B-C lanes require great skill and nudging to drop the A and C lanes. I usually don't like asymmetrical slings, but these work great! Fantastic angles for the shots and bounces that make you consider what you are shooting for carefully. Bonus mulipliers that make all the difference in the world to your score, prioritize what you need to do differently each ball. One of Gordon Morrison's best art packages. Brilliant colors, top-heavy women with tiny waists... Stunning pf and (you never hear me say this... Brace yourselves) cabinet designs.

The Cons: Just like any other pinball game, if the table is not tip-tip, gameplay suffers (please keep that in mind, for those who say the gameplay lacks on this table...).

The Takeaway: A great game that will keep you coming back again and again. This PF is a winner whether it is in an EM or a SS package. Personally, I think the game plays better in the SS version. The bonus multipliers seem to be integrated into the game a bit better. The entire PF is utilized very well and the upper flipper is just right for the shots at the aces and joker. This game is not a williams DMD game. It has a different look and feel (and manufacturer, and tech, and designer). If this vintage of a game is not your thing... I completely understand. But the apples vs. oranges arguement is not valid in this case. Considering the vintage/limits of this design, it's an incredibly brilliant game. Ed Krynski is THE MAN! All in all... A damn fine game.

Update:
I have one SS exception for the 5 ball rule and that is Joker Poker. Granted this is an EM-vintage PF design, but the reason I have the game set to 5 balls has to do with the game's rules.

Ball 1, shoot the single "10" drop target.
Ball 2, shoot the two "J" drop targets.
Ball 3, shoot the three "Q" drop targets.
Ball 4, shoot the four "K" (including that pesky lower right hand one) drop targets.
Ball 5, shoot the five "A and joker" drop targets in the upper left hand corner of the PF.

This ruleset requires you to shoot all over the table and utilize the entire design of the deck. If the game was set to 3 ball, only the 10, Q and A-joker targets would need to be dropped. So in this case, I will make an exception to the SS 3 ball rule. This game really shines with the 5 ball ruleset! At the start of each ball, the game requires you to shoot a different set of the 5 banks across the game. I like the priority of shots changing from ball to ball and thus keep the deck on 5 balls per play. Playing this game does not get old, it gets more nucanced. What I mean by that is that the small techniques make the big difference on this table. The EM nudging and patience techniques pay off big. As does accuracy and secondary aiming off the rubber sides of the game to get the Aces and Joker bank completed. Is hitting that lower king target driving you nuts? Can you access it from a sling rebound? Is the ball near the pops? Just the slightest nudge into the table will make the ball fly around the upper pf, hopefully you will luck into another drop or the saucer. You will become a better pinball player with mileage on a table like this one.

I love playing this deck, I hope you do too!

Update v.2:
This game has left the stable. And while I miss it sometimes, I know it has gone to a good home with a caring owner. I will look for it in other collections, and maybe will own another one again. But for now, this game has left the building.

See you soon Joker Poker!

Caucasian2Step edited previous rating on July 11, 2019.
Caucasian2Step has owned this game in the past.

5 Pinsiders starred this!

9.133/10

11 years ago

GCB

Pinwiz1985

Pinside member

Watertown, CT

12y 41,900 376 2 6

I like the bell sounds more so than any music background. Gives me a sense of nostalgia of how a pinball would sound from this era. Played this game a few times and it didn't seem to get old!

8.277/10

12 years ago

MLV

Pinball-is-great

Pinside member

Lafayette, LA

12y 147K 5,017 3 102

One of the better Gottlieb games from the 70's. Another great drop-target game. Nice mix & use of colors in the artwork. Sound is ok for its era, but not impressive. I like pretty much everything about this game except the sounds are a bit lame. At least the sounds are not annoying.

Pinball-is-great edited previous rating on June 17, 2012.
Pinball-is-great currently owns this game.

9.400/10

13 years ago

???

Tilt_Save

Pinside member

Chilliwack, BC

14y 21,000 10 12

Simple rule set, but a lot of fun. Quite addictive, and I never get tired of playing this game!

Tilt_Save currently owns this game.

8.715/10

14 years ago

DMR

Muscle_cars_only

Inactive member

Lynchburg, VA

14y 18,900 225 13 15

Probably going to be my first EM. I loved this game as a kid and an adult. I'd play it for hours on end for free,beating the older kids-winners game is payed for. I'm fortunate enough to have a good friend that owns one and doesn't mind me "getting my groove on".

In my eyes close to if not the best 70's pin made. Has it all,speed,skill(shoot that hand correctly) and a great layout.

If you've never played it and have a chance to, do it you won't regret it.

8.000/10

14 years ago

???

Wardy-WizardOfOz

Inactive member

Bankstown

14y 4,750 2 8

Joker Poker was a great pinball machine from the 70`s when Gottlieb produced some of the best games of the era. This is probably their best example of their playing card themes which were popular in the 70`s so rating from memory. The rules were to shoot for the 10 card followed by pair of Jacks, the Queens, the Kings and the Aces. Shoot the lanes and kick-out hole at the top of playing field for times bonus. The score required for a game credit were fixed so 3 or 4 games won on an exceptional game were achieveable. Overall a classic game from Gottlieb a collectable from this era.

8.319/10

14 years ago

WRL

mr705_aol_com

Inactive member

West Bend, WI

19y 33,750 2 18

an addicting game! Lots of fun to knock down targets. I lived on this machine in college

7.945/10

14 years ago

DEL

SealClubber

Pinside Moderator

14y 128K 11,066 246

My uncle owned the EM version and it's one of my earliest pinball memories. I love the variation that this game has for such an early machine. The SS version changed the rules a bit but it is still a good drop target game.

SealClubber edited previous rating on February 22, 2011.

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